


Extending Family

by ami_ven



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-05-31 22:58:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6490726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave Sheppard’s brother said he had some people he wanted him to meet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Extending Family

Dave Sheppard watched the mini-van come up the long driveway, and blinked when it got close enough to make out the driver. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting from his brother, but John turning up in a _mini-van_ hadn’t been it.

Since their father’s funeral, Dave had tried to keep in touch. Every week, he and John exchanged e-mails— stilted, awkward, brief e-mails, but at least they were trying. Mostly they talked about the past, as though, Dave thought, remembering the kids they’d been might help them understand the adults they’d become.

Then, John had written that he’d finally be able to take some time off, and he’d like to come visit. He had some people he wanted Dave to meet. Dave had written back immediately that of course he could come— how many, and for how long?

It had taken John two weeks to reply that he would be there in two weeks. There would be four of them, but they’d only need three bedrooms, two if Dave was short on space. Also, did he have wi-fi, and could he get rid of anything citrus before they arrived?

That last one didn’t quite make sense, but Dave had finished off the lemonade and thrown out some questionable-looking oranges before checking that the spare rooms all had fresh sheets. Three rooms, John had said, and Dave just knew he was bringing someone. He supposed it could have been the other two of their four-person group, but somehow he didn’t think that was it. John was trying to tell him something, to let him back into his life, and Dave was going to be as accepting as he could.

In the driveway, the mini-van slowed to a stop, and the side door immediately slid open. A large figure leaped out, and it took Dave a moment to recognize him as Ronon, the friend he’d met at Dad’s funeral. Ronon immediately turned around and reached back into the van, lifting out a small boy, with coffee-colored skin and a black t-shirt, who took off running toward the horse barn.

The passenger door banged open. “Torren John!” yelled a man’s voice. “You get your little butt back here!”

The boy turned, pouting, and slowly toddled back toward the car.

“That doesn’t work on me,” the man told him. “Sheppard is teaching you bad things.”

John opened the driver’s side door and got out, then turned to open the other sliding door and offer his hand to a petite woman, with the same coloring as little Torren John and who was clearly _very_ pregnant. He spoke, too quietly for Dave to hear, until she snapped, “I am _fine_ , John.”

Dave blinked again. John had a family. He’d heard a little about John’s team— mostly, that he had one— but he hadn’t quite been expecting this. Summoning a smile, he pushed the front door open.

“Hey, Dave,” John called, waving as he approached. “You remember Ronon, right?”

The big man grunted, and Dave smiled. “Yes, I remember.”

“This is Teyla,” he said, nodding toward the woman beside him. “That’s Rodney. And the little guy is Torren. He—”

“—has to go to the bathroom,” interrupted Rodney, who had the boy on his hip. “And so do I. Where is it?”

“Rodney is pleased to meet you,” said John, pointedly, though he sounded like he was trying not to laugh.

“Yes, yes, I’m thrilled,” said Rodney. “Bathroom?”

“You gotta say ‘please’,” said Torren.

Rodney scowled, but dutifully added, “Please?”

“Right inside,” said Dave, leading the way up the front steps. “Second door on the left.”

“Thanks,” Rodney muttered, and Torren added, “Thanks, Uncle Dave!”

“I must also use the facilities,” said Teyla, apologetically.

“The second bathroom is upstairs, on the right,” said Dave.

“I’ll bring in our stuff,” said Ronon, which left Dave alone with his brother.

“Hey,” said John again.

“You look… happy,” Dave began.

John smiled. “I am,” he said. He fidgeted for a moment, then added, “Is it okay that Torren calls you ‘Uncle Dave’? I mean, he only knows you from pictures, but he already started calling Rodney’s sister ‘Aunt Jeannie’, so…”

“Of course it’s okay,” Dave assured him. “He’s family, right?”

“Yeah,” John agreed. “If you’ve got anything planned, you’ll have to account for a two-year old now. We weren’t supposed to be bringing him along, but Kanaan got called in to consult on… at one of the other facilities, and Teyla didn’t want to leave Torren with a babysitter for so long.”

Now, Dave was confused. “Who’s Kanaan?” he asked.

John frowned. “Torren’s father. The second kid’s, too. Teyla’s boyfriend, significant other, you know. They’re… I don’t know what they are, actually, but they seem happy.”

“But…” Dave began. “You said you wanted me to meet someone. Several people. I thought…”

“That Torren was my kid?” John snorted. “Thanks, Dave.”

“How was I supposed to know? He’s dressed like you, he’s got his hair like yours, and you told me there were people you wanted me to meet.”

“I didn’t know Torren was coming when I wrote that,” John protested. “I wanted you to meet my team, and… and…”

“Seriously, Sheppard, you haven’t told him yet?” They both turned to see Rodney in the doorway, smirking. “We left you two alone on purpose.”

“I was getting around to it,” John drawled. “Until Dave assumed Torren was my kid.”

Rodney burst out laughing. “Even your brother thinks you’re Kirk,” he snickered, then paused. “You want me to give you a few more minutes?”

John looked sideways at his brother, then shook his head. “Nah,” he said, and held out his hand. 

Dave was confused for the brief moment it took for Rodney to roll his eyes and cross the room to take John’s hand— then it all made sense. “You thought I’d freak out, didn’t you?” he accused his brother, gently. 

John quirked a smile. “It was a distinct possibility,” he said.

“Please,” said Rodney. “He’s been stressing out about this since you started e-mailing each other.”

“Rodney…” said John, turning faintly pink.

“Payback is hell, Sheppard,” his— boyfriend?— said, unrepentant. “Just wait until I get your brother to tell me embarrassing childhood stories.”

“Can’t be worse than yours,” John retorted, then turned back to Dave, looking nervous again. “You’re _not_ freaking out, are you?” he asked.

“Okay, this is something of a surprise,” Dave admitted. “But I’m not freaking out, I promise. I guess I just thought that after Nancy, you might not want to...”

“Yeah,” John agreed. “I thought so, too. But Rodney kind of changed my mind.”

“Uncle John, Uncle John!” A small blur darted into the room to throw itself at John’s legs. Torren then hooked his fingers into John’s belt and started climbing, little sneakers leaving smears of dirt on John’s pants— from the way his brother merely shifted his weight to keep upright, Dave suspected that this happened fairly often. 

“Did you know Uncle Dave had big animals?” Torren asked, “Do you know what they’re called? Can we go see them? Can we go riding on them? Can we—?”

“Whoa, slow down, little buddy,” said John. “Those are horses, and we can go see them later, if you want. But riding—”

“Of course we can ride the horses, Torren,” said Dave. “But it’s already dinner time. How about we go bright and early tomorrow?”

“Can we?” the boy asked. “Can we, Uncle John?”

“If your mother says you can,” John said, by which he clearly meant he’d talk her into it. “But right now, you need to get cleaned up for dinner. Tell your mom and Uncle Ronon we’re eating soon.”

“Okay!” said Torren, and raced off again.

John watched him go, then said, “You knew when you said ‘bright and early,’ he’s going to wake us all up at sunrise, right?”

Dave smiled. “Yeah, I figured.” 

Now that he had the time to really look at his brother, Dave was surprised to see how different John looked, even since their father’s funeral. Then, he’d seemed so distant and somehow alone even though he’d brought his friend, Ronon.

Today, though, John looked… well, he looked _happy_. 

Maybe someday, Dave would actually get to know what his brother did for a living. But for now, he could get to know John’s friends, the family he’d chosen for himself, and that seemed like a pretty good start.

THE END


End file.
